Entertainment

‘The Flash’ Recap: Rupture

Last night’s episode of The Flash, “Rupture.” opens with Barry chasing down a pair of convicts escaping in a car by creating a hologram of the Flash. Cisco and Iris sit at the control station and guide Barry as he runs on a treadmill, projecting his image over town. The bandits do not realize the Flash they see is a hologram and are slowed down just enough to be apprehended by the police.

Cisco and Iris congratulate Barry, who is exhausted from his workout. He still lacks his true speed. The victory is short-lived as Wells begins to poke holes in the use of holograms. He fears this deception will quickly be noticed as the hologram cannot actually touch anyone and it cannot follow them inside buildings. The crime-fighting aspect is severely limited. Wells continues to push the idea of creating a new particle accelerator explosion. He claims that this time he can control the dark matter involved in the explosion and engineer it to get Barry his speed back. The team is initially very apprehensive, especially since that there was a similar particle accelerator explosion on Earth-2 that was caused by Wells’ error. Wells knows Barry will need his speed when Zoom returns. Barry is determined to figure it out on his own.

Barry drives out to visit his father, Henry Allen, in his isolated cabin in the woods. Barry reveals his loss of power, that Jay is Zoom, and Wells’ plan to create another particle accelerator explosion. Henry warns against the explosion and doesn’t think Barry actually needs powers to be a hero.

Back at the lab, Wells reveals his formula for getting Barry’s speed back. Jesse, Cisco, and Iris do not know what to make of it. Cisco refuses to let him try this on Barry. He and Wells begin to quarrel when suddenly Cisco vibes on his brother Dante. In the vibe, Dante stares menacingly at Cisco. Worried, Cisco leaves the lab to find his brother. Barry arrives shortly later with his father. Henry has decided to stay in the city with Barry, potentially permanently.

At the CCPD, Wally talks with his Joe about his life’s purpose. Ever since the Flash saved him, he wants to turn over a new leaf and start helping people. Joe encourages him to stick with engineering until his true calling comes to pass. Suddenly, Zoom appears at the station with Caitlin. Zoom taunts the police but Caitlin is able to talk Zoom out of doing anything deadly. Zoom declares that the city is now his and he will kill anyone who disobeys him.

Back at the lab, Joe, Wells, and Iris discuss Zoom’s reappearance. Wells explains he is doing it to display power. Zoom begins by killing people, then recruits other metahumans to create an army and kills anyone who gets in his way. Wells encourages Joe to get the police away to safety. Barry and Joe plan to set up a task force at Jitters coffee shop, which is not far from the station.

Chained up in the now-abandoned CCPD, Caitlin asks Jay if he plans on killing everyone. Jay says everyone but her. Caitlin says she will never be with him. Jay believes there is evil inside Caitlin, just like himself and Killer Frost. He tells her she just needs to “unlock” it.

Cisco finds his brother in a bar. Their relationship is still very shaky. Dante is still bitter overly nearly losing his hands the last time they met up. Cisco wants to make sure he is safe, which Dante seems to be.

Meanwhile, Joe sets up a dorm-like room for Wally and Jessie inside one of the lab’s metahuman holding chambers. Wally wants to help, but Joe just wants him to stay safe. Joe questions Wells on his plan to get Barry’s speed back. Joe does not believe Barry will go along with it. Henry appears and stands against Wells. Henry does not want to risk Barry’s life and fears Barry is up against impossible odds. Wells promises not to kill Barry but knows the city needs the Flash. And Joe does not know what the right answer is. Barry listens to all these arguments and says he must make the final decision on his own.

At the bar, Cisco sees a news report of Zoom’s appearance at the CCPD. He immediately flees. His brother follows him, needing a ride, and they are both attacked by a metahuman named Rupture (Nicholas Gonzalez), who wields a scythe. Rupture plans to kill Cisco to avenge his deceased brother, Reverb, who also happens to be Cisco’s Earth-2 counterpart. Rupture turns out to be Dante from Earth-2. This confuses Earth-1 Dante, but Cisco demands they run before he can explain anything. The two barely manage to escape in the lab’s van.

At the lab, Wells explains Rupture works for Zoom. He gets his power from his scythe. Wells tells Barry he needs to get his powers back. Barry needs a minute to think it over, alone. Iris follows him. Iris knows what Barry must do, but she does not want to see him get hurt. She finally reveals she loves him, and how much she is thinking about them as a couple. Barry doesn’t understand why she is telling him now. Iris explains she does not care if he is the Flash or not; she just wants him. Barry is left speechless.

At the CCPD, Caitlin watches Zoom talk with Rupture, who doesn’t realize Zoom is the real one who killed his brother. Zoom tells Rupture to wait on killing Cisco until he attacks the police at Jitters, to send them a message. Caitlin is able to find a box with a cell phone and hides it from Jay. Caitlin is hurt because Jay said he would not hurt the cops. Jay begins to accept Caitlin will never love him and he fully accepts the monster she feels he is.

Barry finally comes to the decision that he cannot risk another particle accelerator explosion. It will put too many lives at risk, and he and the team must find a way to stop the assault on Jitters (which they learn about from Caitlin) without the Flash.

Meanwhile, Dante finds a letter Cisco wrote to him and their mother before he entered Earth-2, but never sent. Cisco reveals his powers to his brother. Dante wonders why he kept this secret and Cisco explains it is because the two of them are not close and he just accepted that they never will be, so he stopped trying.

Joe prepares for the siege on Jitters. Barry and Cisco use the hologram once again. Rupture attacks the station and the hologram is able to distract him long enough for Joe to taser him and capture him. Captain Singh prepares to take him into custody.

Zoom watches this on the news and realizes Caitlin must have told them. He feels betrayed and unleashes his wrath on the city. He races to Jitters and demands the reporters focus on him as he singlehandedly snaps the necks of all the police and reporters at the scene – leaving only Rupture, Joe, and the Captain still standing. Cisco, Caitlin, and Barry watch the news in horror. Barry runs to the scene to try and plead with Zoom. Zoom is furious and kills Rupture for failing him. Cisco is devastated to watch his brother’s Earth-2 counterpart die onscreen. Zoom holds a camera and reveals Barry as a fraud and explains how there is no more hope left in the world. He exposes Barry as weak and pathetic before escaping.

Back at the lab, Cisco finds Dante, who was also watching the news. He is clearly very distraught and tries to apologize to Cisco before Cisco hugs him. Cisco promises to rebuild their relationship and Dante agrees.

Wells explains to the rest of the team that Zoom has done everything he feared. His next step will be to recruit all of the metahumans. Joe thinks they have captured most of them, but Wells reveals a flash drive identifying thousands of known metahumans from Earth-2. He explains there are far more on Earth-1 because the Earth-1 particle accelerator explosion was not contained like it was on Earth-2, and it affected a large number of people. Barry finally agrees to recreate the explosion. One of the cops who died had a son the same age as Barry was when his mother died. He knows the cop died because the Flash failed to be there.

Wells sets up the particle accelerator. He changes it so the full blast focuses on Barry alone, and sends Cisco to the roof with a weather wand to create a lightning storm. The team wishes Barry well. The machine puts Barry in considerable pain.

Meanwhile, Jessie and Wally work together to break out of their holding cell. The team turns on the particle accelerator and the machine blasts heavy radiation at Barry. Zoom watches the lightning form over the lab from the CCPD. He screams and races toward the lab. Suddenly, Barry disintegrates from all of the radiation and an explosion occurs. Jessie and Wally are hit by the blast as they try to join the team. Everyone is devastated by Barry’s apparent death. Zoom races to the lab and taunts them. He says they were never going to be able to give him powers back and all they did was kill him. Everyone is crushed and begin to cry.

This episode was a big improvement from last week’s. Some of the dialogue in the beginning was weak. I did not like how Wells said the team needs to work to get back “your Caitlin.” The use of “your” was an unnecessary reminder that, yes, this Wells is from a different Earth. But, come on! At this point he has been working with the team for the entire season. She is just as much his Caitlin as she is theirs. And as usual, Wells was stern and unyielding and convinced he was the smartest person in the room, while Barry solemnly worked to find the answer on his own. This same banter occurs in EVERY EPISODE. Sure, it is a tense topic, but Barry’s response is always angsty, brooding, and determined to “go it alone.” Wells is always a stone-faced jerk and just insistent on hammering in his idea, which is clearly the only idea ever and therefore the best idea.

After the initially “bleh” introduction, the episode picked up significant steam. I thought it was funny how the re-introduction of Barry’s father had to be him being overly macho, chopping wood in his remote cabin in the woods like he was in a jeans commercial. But I also enjoyed the return of Barry’s father. Henry reveals that his mother’s maiden name is Garrick, which is also Jay/Hunter/Zoom’s name. That is clear foreshadowing; I just do not know for what.

The reappearance of Cisco’s brother was a nice change of pace. At first, it seemed like they would just be bickering like they did the last time Dante appeared, but they probably had the most growth of the episode. The two are at odds and have been for most of their lives, but watching the Earth-2 version of Dante die onscreen really crushed them both. It was heartbreaking and called for some really strong performances from the two actors.

A big moment of the episode was Iris revealing her love to Barry. No more Friends-like “will they or won’t they” involved. Now it is on the table. And Barry was speechless! We have a cliffhanger on what Barry’s answer is. He is clearly not mad at her, he is still processing it all. But there was no dramatic kiss.

Another big moment was Wally and Jessie being hit by the new particle accelerator blast. Ever since they brought up the idea of a new “PA” explosion, I knew Wally was going to get hit. As I have mentioned before, Wally West in the comics is the Silver Age Flash. So, this is going to lead to his introduction as a speedster. Wally becoming the Flash should be interesting because as of now Barry is dead. That I did not see coming. It would be very bold of the series to permanently kill him off. Technically, they can do it because the series is just called The Flash, so Wally could just take his place. But Grant Gustin is such an enjoyable actor to watch I hope they do not. I have heard no news at all regarding Gustin’s departure, so that is purely my speculation and theories. Take them as you will.

As I expected, the episodes are significantly improving as the season draws to a close. Lots of heavy duty action and the seemingly unstoppable victory of Zoom. I am definitely excited to keep watching because Zoom is a very strong villain and I really want to see the team finally beat him. The series has created someone I love to hate. Now I wish to see him get destroyed.

Last night’s episode of The Flash, “Rupture.” opens with Barry chasing down a pair of convicts escaping in a car by creating a hologram of the Flash. Cisco and Iris sit at the control station and guide Barry as he runs on a treadmill, projecting his image over town. The bandits do not realize the Flash they see is a hologram and are slowed down just enough to be apprehended by the police.

Cisco and Iris congratulate Barry, who is exhausted from his workout. He still lacks his true speed. The victory is short-lived as Wells begins to poke holes in the use of holograms. He fears this deception will quickly be noticed as the hologram cannot actually touch anyone and it cannot follow them inside buildings. The crime-fighting aspect is severely limited. Wells continues to push the idea of creating a new particle accelerator explosion. He claims that this time he can control the dark matter involved in the explosion and engineer it to get Barry his speed back. The team is initially very apprehensive, especially since that there was a similar particle accelerator explosion on Earth-2 that was caused by Wells’ error. Wells knows Barry will need his speed when Zoom returns. Barry is determined to figure it out on his own.

Barry drives out to visit his father, Henry Allen, in his isolated cabin in the woods. Barry reveals his loss of power, that Jay is Zoom, and Wells’ plan to create another particle accelerator explosion. Henry warns against the explosion and doesn’t think Barry actually needs powers to be a hero.

Back at the lab, Wells reveals his formula for getting Barry’s speed back. Jesse, Cisco, and Iris do not know what to make of it. Cisco refuses to let him try this on Barry. He and Wells begin to quarrel when suddenly Cisco vibes on his brother Dante. In the vibe, Dante stares menacingly at Cisco. Worried, Cisco leaves the lab to find his brother. Barry arrives shortly later with his father. Henry has decided to stay in the city with Barry, potentially permanently.

At the CCPD, Wally talks with his Joe about his life’s purpose. Ever since the Flash saved him, he wants to turn over a new leaf and start helping people. Joe encourages him to stick with engineering until his true calling comes to pass. Suddenly, Zoom appears at the station with Caitlin. Zoom taunts the police but Caitlin is able to talk Zoom out of doing anything deadly. Zoom declares that the city is now his and he will kill anyone who disobeys him.

Back at the lab, Joe, Wells, and Iris discuss Zoom’s reappearance. Wells explains he is doing it to display power. Zoom begins by killing people, then recruits other metahumans to create an army and kills anyone who gets in his way. Wells encourages Joe to get the police away to safety. Barry and Joe plan to set up a task force at Jitters coffee shop, which is not far from the station.

Chained up in the now-abandoned CCPD, Caitlin asks Jay if he plans on killing everyone. Jay says everyone but her. Caitlin says she will never be with him. Jay believes there is evil inside Caitlin, just like himself and Killer Frost. He tells her she just needs to “unlock” it.

Cisco finds his brother in a bar. Their relationship is still very shaky. Dante is still bitter overly nearly losing his hands the last time they met up. Cisco wants to make sure he is safe, which Dante seems to be.

Meanwhile, Joe sets up a dorm-like room for Wally and Jessie inside one of the lab’s metahuman holding chambers. Wally wants to help, but Joe just wants him to stay safe. Joe questions Wells on his plan to get Barry’s speed back. Joe does not believe Barry will go along with it. Henry appears and stands against Wells. Henry does not want to risk Barry’s life and fears Barry is up against impossible odds. Wells promises not to kill Barry but knows the city needs the Flash. And Joe does not know what the right answer is. Barry listens to all these arguments and says he must make the final decision on his own.

At the bar, Cisco sees a news report of Zoom’s appearance at the CCPD. He immediately flees. His brother follows him, needing a ride, and they are both attacked by a metahuman named Rupture (Nicholas Gonzalez), who wields a scythe. Rupture plans to kill Cisco to avenge his deceased brother, Reverb, who also happens to be Cisco’s Earth-2 counterpart. Rupture turns out to be Dante from Earth-2. This confuses Earth-1 Dante, but Cisco demands they run before he can explain anything. The two barely manage to escape in the lab’s van.

At the lab, Wells explains Rupture works for Zoom. He gets his power from his scythe. Wells tells Barry he needs to get his powers back. Barry needs a minute to think it over, alone. Iris follows him. Iris knows what Barry must do, but she does not want to see him get hurt. She finally reveals she loves him, and how much she is thinking about them as a couple. Barry doesn’t understand why she is telling him now. Iris explains she does not care if he is the Flash or not; she just wants him. Barry is left speechless.

At the CCPD, Caitlin watches Zoom talk with Rupture, who doesn’t realize Zoom is the real one who killed his brother. Zoom tells Rupture to wait on killing Cisco until he attacks the police at Jitters, to send them a message. Caitlin is able to find a box with a cell phone and hides it from Jay. Caitlin is hurt because Jay said he would not hurt the cops. Jay begins to accept Caitlin will never love him and he fully accepts the monster she feels he is.

Barry finally comes to the decision that he cannot risk another particle accelerator explosion. It will put too many lives at risk, and he and the team must find a way to stop the assault on Jitters (which they learn about from Caitlin) without the Flash.

Meanwhile, Dante finds a letter Cisco wrote to him and their mother before he entered Earth-2, but never sent. Cisco reveals his powers to his brother. Dante wonders why he kept this secret and Cisco explains it is because the two of them are not close and he just accepted that they never will be, so he stopped trying.

Joe prepares for the siege on Jitters. Barry and Cisco use the hologram once again. Rupture attacks the station and the hologram is able to distract him long enough for Joe to taser him and capture him. Captain Singh prepares to take him into custody.

Zoom watches this on the news and realizes Caitlin must have told them. He feels betrayed and unleashes his wrath on the city. He races to Jitters and demands the reporters focus on him as he singlehandedly snaps the necks of all the police and reporters at the scene – leaving only Rupture, Joe, and the Captain still standing. Cisco, Caitlin, and Barry watch the news in horror. Barry runs to the scene to try and plead with Zoom. Zoom is furious and kills Rupture for failing him. Cisco is devastated to watch his brother’s Earth-2 counterpart die onscreen. Zoom holds a camera and reveals Barry as a fraud and explains how there is no more hope left in the world. He exposes Barry as weak and pathetic before escaping.

Back at the lab, Cisco finds Dante, who was also watching the news. He is clearly very distraught and tries to apologize to Cisco before Cisco hugs him. Cisco promises to rebuild their relationship and Dante agrees.

Wells explains to the rest of the team that Zoom has done everything he feared. His next step will be to recruit all of the metahumans. Joe thinks they have captured most of them, but Wells reveals a flash drive identifying thousands of known metahumans from Earth-2. He explains there are far more on Earth-1 because the Earth-1 particle accelerator explosion was not contained like it was on Earth-2, and it affected a large number of people. Barry finally agrees to recreate the explosion. One of the cops who died had a son the same age as Barry was when his mother died. He knows the cop died because the Flash failed to be there.

Wells sets up the particle accelerator. He changes it so the full blast focuses on Barry alone, and sends Cisco to the roof with a weather wand to create a lightning storm. The team wishes Barry well. The machine puts Barry in considerable pain.

Meanwhile, Jessie and Wally work together to break out of their holding cell. The team turns on the particle accelerator and the machine blasts heavy radiation at Barry. Zoom watches the lightning form over the lab from the CCPD. He screams and races toward the lab. Suddenly, Barry disintegrates from all of the radiation and an explosion occurs. Jessie and Wally are hit by the blast as they try to join the team. Everyone is devastated by Barry’s apparent death. Zoom races to the lab and taunts them. He says they were never going to be able to give him powers back and all they did was kill him. Everyone is crushed and begin to cry.

This episode was a big improvement from last week’s. Some of the dialogue in the beginning was weak. I did not like how Wells said the team needs to work to get back “your Caitlin.” The use of “your” was an unnecessary reminder that, yes, this Wells is from a different Earth. But, come on! At this point he has been working with the team for the entire season. She is just as much his Caitlin as she is theirs. And as usual, Wells was stern and unyielding and convinced he was the smartest person in the room, while Barry solemnly worked to find the answer on his own. This same banter occurs in EVERY EPISODE. Sure, it is a tense topic, but Barry’s response is always angsty, brooding, and determined to “go it alone.” Wells is always a stone-faced jerk and just insistent on hammering in his idea, which is clearly the only idea ever and therefore the best idea.

After the initially “bleh” introduction, the episode picked up significant steam. I thought it was funny how the re-introduction of Barry’s father had to be him being overly macho, chopping wood in his remote cabin in the woods like he was in a jeans commercial. But I also enjoyed the return of Barry’s father. Henry reveals that his mother’s maiden name is Garrick, which is also Jay/Hunter/Zoom’s name. That is clear foreshadowing; I just do not know for what.

The reappearance of Cisco’s brother was a nice change of pace. At first, it seemed like they would just be bickering like they did the last time Dante appeared, but they probably had the most growth of the episode. The two are at odds and have been for most of their lives, but watching the Earth-2 version of Dante die onscreen really crushed them both. It was heartbreaking and called for some really strong performances from the two actors.

A big moment of the episode was Iris revealing her love to Barry. No more Friends-like “will they or won’t they” involved. Now it is on the table. And Barry was speechless! We have a cliffhanger on what Barry’s answer is. He is clearly not mad at her, he is still processing it all. But there was no dramatic kiss.

Another big moment was Wally and Jessie being hit by the new particle accelerator blast. Ever since they brought up the idea of a new “PA” explosion, I knew Wally was going to get hit. As I have mentioned before, Wally West in the comics is the Silver Age Flash. So, this is going to lead to his introduction as a speedster. Wally becoming the Flash should be interesting because as of now Barry is dead. That I did not see coming. It would be very bold of the series to permanently kill him off. Technically, they can do it because the series is just called The Flash, so Wally could just take his place. But Grant Gustin is such an enjoyable actor to watch I hope they do not. I have heard no news at all regarding Gustin’s departure, so that is purely my speculation and theories. Take them as you will.

As I expected, the episodes are significantly improving as the season draws to a close. Lots of heavy duty action and the seemingly unstoppable victory of Zoom. I am definitely excited to keep watching because Zoom is a very strong villain and I really want to see the team finally beat him. The series has created someone I love to hate. Now I wish to see him get destroyed.